By Staff
Mayoral candidate thanks voters
Editor:
I wish to thank all of you Hartselle voters who took the time out of your lives to vote and especially to all those who helped me.
I wish to congratulate all who won and good luck to Dick Carter and Bill Drake.
To those who lost, at least we tried and cared about Hartselle.
I say to you Dwight Tankersley: follow your heart, stick to your decisions and you'll do fine. You have a great council to work with. Try some different things. Taxes are not the answer for Hartselle but there must be income coming in.
I ask you, Mr. Mayor, to do two things for me and the city of Hartselle: get the teens a center with go-cart track, skate board park, bike track and putt-putt golf and a large game room for our kids; and a kid's parade for kids 10 and under.
And, leave yourself a legacy, and open up I-65. And if you do these things, you'll probably get reelected.
Mr. Knight, mayor, at least you tried. Good luck to you.
And again, thank all of you who voted for me and most likely you will not see me on the 2008 ticket for mayor.
Larry Smith
Hartselle
New council has work ahead
Editor:
When our city council voted in favor of the hangars at the airport, I was opposed to the idea at first. It appeared to be a waste of money. That was before I looked into it. The airport isn't going anywhere, unfortunately, and we are going to have to get used to low-flying, tree level and non-muffler planes.
If you take the money issue and look at the rational side, it appears that on the financial side of the equation, the city would benefit more from the rent of the hangars as opposed to the little interest in the same amount of money. That's just some good business, now that I look at it more closely. It takes money to make money sometimes.
On the recent council election, there is nothing advantageous about a completely new council. Even though they have our best interest in mind, it will take them six-12 months to get up to speed, learn procedures, laws, ethics and other aspects of city government. As two of the newly elected council have had previous experience, the others have no experience in city government. I have far more council meetings and work sessions attendance than some of these newly elected council added together.
Council positions should be staggered in order to keep at least someone on there that knows the ebb and flow of current issues. Also, the city citizens of Hartselle are not being properly represented when the majority of the council lives in one particular area of Hartselle. Hartselle should be divided up equally into five districts (for the five places) and someone from each district should be elected, therefore allowing each district to be adequately represented.
Same on one of the newly elected council members for stating that our city government is "hiding" money or not divulging the accurate amount of money is reserve. Odds are that he hasn't even been to city hall and researched it. I believe that this item is public record and open to anyone. He is probably relying on a statement from his speech writer, or perhaps it might be his youth that prompted him to say this. It will be interesting to see who (behind the scenes) puppeteers of Hartselle will work the strings on their puppets over the next four years.
Mike Dowdy
Hartselle
Kerry not the leader for America
Editor:
Over the last few weeks, the American people have heard about the Swift Boat Veterans along with watching John Kerry make a mockery of the military during the Democrat Convention. After all of this controversy one thing comes to mind, why doesn't John Kerry run on his 20-year record in the Senate?
Doesn't John Kerry's voting record in the Senate show that he has what it takes to be the President of the United States? Why not let the American people see his complete voting record in the Senate, run on it, and then let the American people choose the best person for the job. The American people are looking at President Bush's record as our President; so, why should John Kerry be looked upon differently?
It should be so noted, President Bush has kept everyone of his campaign promises he made in the 2000 Presidential election. So let's take a look at the campaign promises made by John Kerry while running for Congress and the Senate in Massachusetts along with his voting record which is open to the public.
We also must take into consideration that the Democrats told us in 1992 and 1996 that ones serving in the military did not matter when a person was running for the President of the United States. John Kerry was one of the outspoken Democrats on this very issue when William J. Clinton was questioned on his deferments and why he did not serve in the military during Vietnam. John Kerry told us serving in the military did not
matter and that serving in the military was a personal issue.
The solution to this is fairly simple. Let the American people take a look at the voting record(s) and legislation promoted by President Bush and John Kerry. Let us compare what these two men have to offer the American people now and then decide who is best suited for the job to be the leader of the free world.
Mr. Kerry let us forget Vietnam where you served for four months and 12 days and let us take a long look at your voting record in the Senate.
One other thing before closing, what is more outlandish than John Kerry running on his military record is the fact that we see the Democrats who at one time spit on our troops, disrespected our government leaders, and protested against a war they hated but now are using the very war they despised as a campaign theme for their liberal nominee John Kerry to be elected President. The word hypocrites does come to mind for the Democrats during this election.
It is truly time for the hypocrisy to stop and let the truth come out Mr. Kerry because the American people need a leader not a hypocrite.
KL Boone
Tanner